Mother Goose's Home, and all the Stories.-Little Red Riding Hood tells
Elfie all about the Fairy Story People. A Piece of the Moon

TRICK THE TENTH.

A Few Facts about the Moon. It is made of Cheese. Elfie and E-ma-ji-na-
shun start for the Moon on the Broomstick. The Cloud-Ship

TRICK THE ELEVENTH.

Elfie arrives at the Moon

TRICK THE TWELFTH.

Elfie returns to Earth. Where is E-ma-ji-na-shun ? The New Puzzle

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND

AND THE MOON

TRICK THE FIRST.

.,..

~j;a~sf: :'i
.I,-. ,;g%-~~_
-r
-. 3esil
u

JI-na- v/li/fl appeared 01/I (y Met .iait

~Ijar, NCE upon a time, although it was not
such a very long time ago, there lived

a little girl named Elfie f Her home was with her papa and
mamma in one of those pretty villages on the banks of the great
Hudson River, which you all know winds through the State of
New York. The mighty Catskill Mountains, where old Rip Varf
Winkle was lost, were quite close to her house.
She was really a very pretty child, with brown eyes and lovely
fair curling hair, and was seven years old on her last birthday.

io ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

Besides her papa and mamma she had a most delightful grandma
and grandpa, who lived with them, and who used to tell her the
most beautiful fairy
stories that any little
g4 girl ever listened to.
Then she had several
Saunties who lived in
the city, one of whom,
Auntie Louie, was quite
"" as good as a story book
herself; for she had been
all over the world, and
S. loved to tell tales of her
travels to all who would
Listen to her. There
S. was an Aunt Eva, who
-: _- was very fond of Elfie,
and would play with her
by the hour; and an Un-
cle George, who was
just as good and kind
-t i as Uncle Georges al-
S n ways are in the story
books. So you see that
Elfie had no lack of friends, and had so many people to tell her
stories that her little mind was full of Mother Goose and gob-
lins, and princes and fairies, and all the won-
derful things that have been written for the ,
amusement of children since the beginning of
the world.
Now you would think that if ever there
was anybody who ought to be happy, Elfie ought to have been;

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. II

but in spite of all the stories she had heard and read, and in
spite of the many playthings she had to amuse her, she was
sometimes the most discontented little girl
that ever lived. She was always wishing
for something that she did not have--one .
day for a bigger dollie, another for three
birthdays a year, another for something else, r .'
- always wishing, wishing.
You have all read or heard of the little
boy who cried for the moon. Well, Elfie
actually did that, too, until she grew old
enough to know that no one could climb up
to get it for her; and then she began to wish
she could go there. She kept wishing this ..
so much, that at last she began to think of
very little else, and when in the evening it grew dark, so that she
could not see to play any more, she would
creep away to a seat at the window and
watch for the moon.
One thing that surprised her more than
Anything else about the moon was the way
it would first appear as a tiny streak, and
then every night grow a little bigger, till at
Last it was as big and as round as the prize
Pumpkin Elfie had seen at the State Fair.
She supposed it must grow during the day;
but then no sooner did it become quite
round and full than it would get smaller
every night, just as mysteriously as it had
grown, till at last it would disappear alto-
gether, to make way for a new one. This
puzzled Elfie a great deal; and although she did not speak to any-

12 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

body about it, for fear they would laugh at her, or give her some
funny answer, she often wished some one would tell her the rea-
son. She became so curious
about it that she even dreamed
About it, but her dreams never

pesn rnt."h wsse? hewnerd =--'
a told her why the moon grew
larger and smaller, or why it
disappeared and
came again.
S-- ^- *.all
Another thing
that worried El-
fie greatly was, whether Mother Goose was a real
person or not. Who was she?" she wondered;
"was she a 'surely' old lady who gave up her whole time to writ-
ing those wonderful rhymes, or was it only just make believe?"
Then who were Little
Tom Tucker, Humpty
Dumpty, Little Jack
S- Horner and all the
quite l a other delightful people
SI-. she wrote about? Did
they really live any-
where, or were they
like old Mother Goose,
just made up"?
c X. gracious! when Elfie
Ib'an t,, think and wonder, it seemed as
i_-."- --_t. il he ne\_ r nc,'uld be able to live long
enough to find out all about it. To be
sure, Uncle George always talked about
Mother Goose and Jack and Jill, and the rest, as if he knew them
quite well; and she was quite sure in her own mind, that Santa

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 13

Claus was a real person, because her papa and mamma and every
one of her aunties used to speak of him, just as though they had
met him; and did he not always bring her the loveliest presents at
Christmas ?
Elfie used to feel that if she could only be grown up, she would
know all about him, the same as every one else.
One Christmas Day Santa Claus had brought her more pres-
ents than ever, and among them was a splen-
did book of Mother Goose's rhymes full o '
pictures. Elfie thought she never \\told -
get tired of reading it, and looking at
the lovely pictures ; but after all, it only
set her wondering more than
ever, as to where the artist .Ci
who drew the portraits of all -
these people could have seen e-f 5
them; for he must have seen --- I
them somewhere, she thought, ,X
or he never could have made
these beautiful pictures.
One of her papa's friends -
was an artist, and he was also-
a great crony of Elfie's, so she
made up her mind that the very first time she saw Mr. Krome she
would ask him about it. It was not many days after this that
Mr. Krome called at the house and found Elfie sitting in a great
easy-chair in front of the fire in the parlour, with her wonderful
book.
"Well, my little wonder-child," he said, "what's the trouble
now? and what is the last mystery that little head is puzzling
itself over? You see Mr. Krome had heard something of Elfie's
funny questions. He took the little girl on his knee and sat

14 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

down in the chair; then she told him all she had been thinking
about, and wound up by asking him where the artists found all
the pictures of Tom
.. Tucker, Jack Horner,
Sand the rest of Mother
S Goose's family.
Mr. Krome smiled
a little at the number
of questions that Elfie
Shad asked him, but
said, after a little,-
SI "Well, my dear, I
will tell you. You
Must know that all
these people live in a
country that floats
about in the air just
above our heads; one
cannot see it or ever
:.. go to it, without the
aid of a certain good
fairy, who sometimes
visits a few of us mor-
tals, and whose name
is E-ma-ji-na-shun. The country is the Realm of Fancy' or
' Cloudland.'
Now if you will let me hold you tight and will look straight
into the fire, I will try to persuade old E-ma-ji-na-shun, who is
quite a good friend of mine, and often calls upon me, to pay us a
visit and take you to this wonderful country, where you will per-
haps be able to see some of these good people yourself."
Elfie cuddled close up to her friend and fixed her eyes on the

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAVD. 15

fire. For some time she could see nothing but the coal gleaming
in the grate, with here and there a deep fiery chasm, while from
the mass of black, unburned coal on the top, shot and flickered
tiny little blue flames, which seemed to Elfie as she sat in her
friend's lap, to leap and dance and take on all sorts of fantastic
shapes. By and by, while she was still looking hard at the fire,
she saw that the thin bluish smoke, which had been floating up
the chimney in faint streaks, was no longer rising very high from
the coals, but was collecting in a little mass of vapor just above
the fire, and was slowly taking on the shape of a tiny man. As it
grew more and more distinct, she saw that he was very, very old,
and that he had a long white beard, which reached nearly to his
toes. He was dressed in the same -
queer fashion as she had seen the i

her story books. The color of his
garments seemed to have been bor-
rowed from the tints of the fire and thl-
smoke from which he had come. Hi-
tightly fitting jacket, or doublet, wVa
black like the blackest of the coals .
was the outside of a cloak which fell from t
his shoulders, the lining being the c'o-l-. "-I
of the flame; his legs were clad in orang.- .
colored tights, with black trunks slash, .i.l
with fiery streaks. His hair and b-ar --
were the color, and had the same vapory
look, as the smoke; the color of his face
was a mixture of hot coals and ashes, his eyes being formed by
two of the brightest coals, and twinkled with so much life and
jollity that Elfie could see that even if he was as old as his hair
and beard made him appear, he was as full of fun and frolic as

16 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

a boy: his head was capped with a ruby-coloured tam-o'-shanter
with a yellow feather. To complete his extraordinary appearance,
he was only about fifteen inches high.
As soon as he was fully formed, he stepped out of the fire-
place, and came forward to where Elfie sat on Mr. Krome's knee.
He took off his cap with a low bow, and said most politely, "At
your service, my lady. What is your will?"

TRICK THE

SECOND.

"-
.** .., ,;, ,'* '.+" =,
E). -. i -,,E .7 :- .. .

_ r .

of smoke. The Castle in /the
Air.

LFIE wasn't a bit frightened, but
looked up at Mr. Krome to tell
her what to say. He .had al-
ready nodded familiarly to the old gentleman, and said in answer
to his question,-
First tell this young lady a little about yourself, and then
17

18 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

take her on a visit to the Realm of Fancy.'" The little old man's
eyes glowed and twinkled merrily as he sat down on a hot coal,
and placed his little feet on the top bar of the grate. He began
to talk in a quaint, funny little voice which sounded for all the
world like ashes dropping from the fire.
My name, my dear, is E-ma-ji-na-shun, and I am six thousand
years old or older. I have lost track of my birthday for a long
time, but I am just as old as the world. I am the King of the
Realm of Fancy or Cloudland; indeed, I created it, as well as all
the people who live there. I have been acquainted with all the
great people that ever lived; and long after they have died, and
the history of them has been written, the historians who have
lived at a later period have had to come to me for information
about them. Sometimes I would forget what I had told them,
and tell somebody else something quite dif-
ferent about the same man; but it has
made very little difference, and the world
has gone on just the same. I invented
every story that has ever been writ-
ten, and have told them to the peo-
l \ pie who have had the credit of
writing them; but they have been
such good friends of mine
-- that I have been glad of their
i- Success. I am always pleased
S- -to make new friends, especially
S" ___ -- among little girls and boys;
and any child who makes a
friend of me, and does not neglect me as he grows up, is sure
to become famous. But there are a great many who think they
are cleverer than I am, and sit down to write without giving me
full liberty to stir their ink for them or ride on their pen.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 19

"I must say, however," he added, with a funny little look at
his toes as he swung on the top bar of the grate, that some peo-
ple are better without me. I am afraid I have helped to ruin
numbers of business men who have come to me for advice instead
of going to my brother, Common Sense; for I may as well own to
you at once, my dear, that I don't know anything at all about
business, and I always get the worst of it when I try to have any-
thing to do with it. I have always let Common Sense and Expe-

rience, another brother of mine, look after the printing and selling
of my many books; it has been quite enough for me to do to
invent them."
All the time that E-ma-ji-na-shun had been talking he had
been fidgeting about, first in one position, then in another, so that
it had been quite hard at first for Elfie to keep her eyes on him,
but as he went on she found it easier. He now selected a very hot
piece of coal for a seat, and crossing his legs, went on,-
I have always tried to use my talents for the benefit of only

20 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

honest men and women; still I have assisted a great number of
dishonest folk to earn a living. For this you must not blame me,
my child. If wicked people will get hold of my ideas, and use
them for a bad purpose, I am sure I can't help it. If they would
put these same gifts to a good use, they would always do better,
as my brother Experience is forever telling them.
My greatest work in the story-telling line," he continued, in
answer to a question of Mr. Krome's, is, I have always thought,
'The Arabian Nights.'
"I wrote that book centuries ago; and though I could do just
as well to-day, if some clever man would only employ me, still
people go to that, instead of coming direct to me. Yes, they use
the same old stories to-day; they put them in a new dress, and get
me to touch them up here and there, disguising them so, some-
times, that even I can hardly recognize them."
While he had been speaking he had been stirring the coal with
his toe until there was now quite a cloud of smoke rising up the
chimney; and as he came to an end, he took off his cap again and
he held out his hand to Elfie.
"Come, little one, and we will explore the wonderful land you
have heard about-my Realm of Fancy, the beautiful country of
Cloudland."
Elfie stretched out her hand, and the little man, who seemed
as strong as a giant, lifted her down from the chair. In one sec-
ond more he had seated her comfortably in a cosey nook he had
made for her among the blue wreaths of smoke, and before the
little girl could have an idea of where she was-pouf!-shoo!-
she was up the chimney and out of it, floating away to Cloud-
land.
Elfie could never tell how she got through the chimney; when
she looked at it long after, it seemed quite impossible that she
could have squeezed into it. As it was, she never felt it, and was

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 21

through so quick that she only caught one glimpse of its black
sides.
She could only explain it as one of the wonderful tricks of
E-ma-ji-na-shun.
They seemed to :
float through the air -'-
as though they really
were part of the smoke
they were seated upon; a
indeed, when Elfie had l
partly recovered from i
her astonishment, and .
was able to look round,
she saw that she had be- t ,
come quite like vapour;
and as for old E-ma-ji-
na-shun, she could see
right through him.
It was a splendid
ride through the clear,
frosty air. Elfie was: '
surprised that she felt .
quite warm, and when ,
she spoke of this, her X T! .L
guide told her that so
long as anybody was with him, and treated him properly, they
need never feel heat nor cold, hunger nor want.
Away they floated over the village where Elfie lived with her
parents. She could see the chimney they had come from quite
plainly, and she was not surprised to be told by the merry old
gentleman that if she wanted to spend the time, they could float
over the houses of her friends, and he would tell her just what

22 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

they were to have for dinner, or what, they were thinking about;
but Elfie was in too great a hurry to explore the Realm of Fancy
to bother about that just now.
Higher and higher they went, till the village
became a mere speck beneath them, and the great
river a tiny silver thread. They were already
*'* ~among the clouds when Elfie saw that the air
all round them was thick with snow. Ha!
ha!" laughed E-ma-ji-na-shun, Mother
-- Goose is plucking another one of her flock
S i .. for dinner."
S"What do you mean? asked Elfie.
', Haven't you ever heard of that?" ex-
claimed the old man. Whenever it snows
on the earth," he said, it is a sign that old
S Mother Goose and her children are to have a
i goose for dinner, and the flakes are the feath-
ers that she plucks from the bird. That is
the reason I called her Mother Goose, and," he sagely added, I

pI-Il:\

I i:

-' : .) i .. .... .. --,l

made up that story a long time ago,-in fact, quite soon after I
created the old lady,--and I consider that she and her history are

'i

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

among the most successful efforts I ever made in the Realm of
Fancy -but here we are! he cried briskly; "step off carefully
on to this piece of rock, and we will go and have dinner at once,
at one of my castles in the air."
Elfie almost gasped for breath in her astonishment. The
smoke she had come up on had disappeared; the snow, the
clouds, were gone, and here she was standing on the wide stone
.steps of a beautiful castle, just such a castle as she had seen
in one of Mr. Krome's pictures. There were the gates, the moat,
the drawbridge, the battlements, the portcullis that protected the
entrance, a burly soldier in iron cap and leather jerkin standing at
the farther end of the drawbridge, -everything that
she had read about in her fairy-story books as
being necessary for a first-class castle.
"This castle, Elfie, my dear," said E-ma-ji-na-
shun, is your own especial property, and whenever
you want to come here and enjoy it, all you have to
do is to shut your eyes and call upon me. I will
bring you here before you can count ten. Come
along, and let us have dinner."
They crossed the drawbridge, which the soldier
on guard had lowered with a tremendous clatter as
they came near, and passing under the portcullis entered the lofty
hall of the castle. There was a splendid fire of logs blazing away
in an enormous fireplace, and coming to meet them were two of
the dearest old retainers that ever were read about in any story
book that was ever written. They said, both speaking at once,
"Dinner is served in the dining-hall! and Elfie with E-ma-ji-na-
shun lost no time in following them there.
They sat down to a glorious dinner consisting of everything
that Elfie liked, and she was afraid once or twice as she ordered
another help of some of the very sweet things, that her mamma

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAJND.

would appear and tell her not to eat so much.
shun told her that nothing she could do or eat
Fancy would ever hurt her.

But E-ma-ji-na-
in the Realm of

After she had eaten of every kind of candy and dessert that
she had ever tasted, and a great number she had never seen
before, they started out from the castle to see the wonderful
things that E-ma-ji-na-shun had promised to show her.

TRICK THE THIRD.

How Eie met the North Mind, and what he said to her.

HEN they had crossed the drawbridge, passed
l the soldier, who respectfully saluted Elfie as
though she were a princess, and walked down
the great stone steps, Elfie had an opportunity of looking round

Lf'

s* \\ hat '

really remarkable .-
place this country was.
There were hundreds of just such castles as her own to be seen
25
cl q r ___.:.~l : .. ...,

26 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

from where she stood, and E-ma-ji-na-shun told her that they be-
longed to poor people who could not afford to live in a real castle
on earth. Away off in the distance were a range of mountains,
which glistened so gloriously in the sunlight that she was not
astonished when her guide told her they were made of solid gold
and silver.
iMany of the trees which grew round the castles had diamonds,
emeralds, and rubies hanging on them for fruit, and the way they
sparkled and glowed as the light fell upon them was a sight to
behold.
All sorts of animals, some of familiar appearance, and others
strange, were prowling about. They could all talk quite well, and
were all busy, E-ma-ji-na-shun told Elfie, looking for something
they might do or say that could be worked into a story, which, he
said, was the only use they were.
They strolled on gently, Elfie looking from side to side with
delight, when she heard a terrible rushing, roaring noise, and at
the same time felt an icy cold wind blowing past her and into her
face. She looked up to see the cause of the cold and the noise,
when she heard a big blustering, boisterous voice shouting,--
"Hullo! Elfie! Is this cold enough for you?"
She looked round for her friend, but knew quite well before
she saw him that it could not be he who had spoken. No; there
he was, sitting in his goblin fashion on the limb of a tree, laugh-
ing and chuckling and throwing his little feet in the air with mer-
riment.
Elfie looked higher, and saw what she felt sure must be one
of the famous giants she had read about. It was the form of an
enormous man nearly sixty feet high, seemingly made of ice and
snow. He had on an ice overcoat, a crown of ice, and a snow
beard. His face appeared to be made of strawberry ice cream,
and his legs and feet were two great blocks of frozen snow; his

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 29

hair was composed of icicles, and under his arm was a tremendous
pair of bellows. On looking further, Elfie saw that he had just
come from a gigantic cave in the side of an iceberg which was float-
ing around in a crimson lake.
How did you leave all your friends down below on the
earth ? he roared.
How do you know I came from the earth? said Elfie, who,
seeing that E-ma-ji-na-shun was laughing away heartily, was not
a bit scared.
Ho, ho! don't you know that I visit that place quite often ?
I am the North Wind, ha! ha! Whew-w-w," he whistled.
Haven't you been out with your sled in winter and felt me
blow on your nose till it was so numb that you couldn't feel it?
Haven't I nipped your little fingers and toes and driven you in

_== ,. ." ". .. ..I---_- --- -:, -

crying to mamma? Ha,
.-- ha, ha! he shouted till
his icy sides cracked. I
_-__-_-_-- -_ -_ -._ remember you, little
girl."
Elfie was surprised to find the giant was the North Wind,
but she spoke up brave and strong:-
"Well, I don't think you are very kind to little children. I
am sure I don't like you a bit, and I wish you wouldn't speak
to me."
"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the giant, so heartily that a regular
shower of icicles fell round his feet. Ha, ha, ha! That's all
you little girls know about it. Why, I am one of the very best
friends the children have. I make your blood fly through your

30 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

body, and force you to run about to keep warm. I give you fine
ice to skate on, and freeze the snow so that you can go sleigh-
riding. I make you as hungry as a hunter, so that you run home
and eat so much that you grow up strong and healthy men and
women, able to do something in the world, instead of lolling about
all day, and having to be waited on, like the children who never
feel my cold, healthy breath but I can't stay talking to you any
longer. I must be off to Minnesota to help the good folks of St.
Paul along with their Ice Palace, or else they will be grumbling
at me finely. So good-bye, Elfie! Stick to old E-ma-ji-na-shun;
he is the best friend of the children, and the old folks as well.
Good-bye. Whoop! Swish Whizz Whew-w-w w !" and
away flew the North Wind, leaving a long track of ice and snow
to mark his passage -" Like the tail of a comet," said E-ma-ji-na-
shun, as he came down from his perch on the tree.

,._ OT very far from the crimson lake on which floated
\,r the iceberg which contained the cave of the North
Wind, Elfie saw a very large castle which was quite
different from the others she had seen. It some-
how reminded her of the dolls' house which she
had at home, although it was a thousand times larger, and she
thought to herself, I wonder if that is where the dollies live.
E-ma-ji-na-shun, who never seemed to want her to speak, but
who answered her thoughts just as though she had really asked
the question, said,-
"Yes, you are quite right; that is the home of the dollies -
in fact, it is more: it is Toy Castle, and in it are made and stored
all the toys that are used on earth. Let us go and see them! "
In front of the castle, or house, or villa- Elfie hardly knew
which to call it, for it looked like a mixture of all of them was
a very pretty garden, set out with toy trees, and laid out with imi-
tation flower-beds and gravel walks. The front of the house was
a queer mixture of a castle, a villa, and a doll's house. They
opened the front gate and walked up the path leading to the front
door; on each side of this walk were little green trees, all placed
very neatly on round stands and carefully arranged in two per-
31

32 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

fectly straight lines. They were all nicely painted a bright green,
and were evidently the pride of the doll gardener who attended
them and who was leaning up against the
fence.
When they reached the I 'I
door, which was paint- '
ed green, like the ,

adorned with a very handsome knocker, and that there were also
two bell handles, one on each door-
post. To be quite sure, they pulled
Q each bell and knocked a rat-tat-tat on
the knocker. They had not long to
treesB wait before the door w as opened by

a very trim little doll, dressed in a
: neat cotton gown, with a cute, pretty
i apron and a tiny lace cap. She was
l not half as tall as Elfie, and had had

Said in a very funny voice,
-- -: :-. -4.: -"

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

Will you be pleased to walk in, madam ? "
She spoke her words without any change in her voice, all on
one note, like this,-

and stopped short at the end as though she spoke
by clockwork, which is exactly what she does,"
said E-ma-ji-na-shun, in answer to Elfie's thought.
They followed the hired girl dolly into the
hallway of the villa, and she turned with funny
little jerky steps into the parlour on the right, and
held open the door for Elfie and her companion
to follow.

,- -- "--- 7L_ .. -- ,.,

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

When the little girl looked round the room, she at first thought
she must be in an immense toy store. The ceiling was so high
up above her head that the paper lanterns hanging from it, and
with which the room was lighted, seemed like tiny stars. There
were thousands of these lamps, and they gave a pretty good light.
Very little light came in at the windows, for though they were
real glass, they were nearly covered by the curtains painted on
them. Just like my doll's house," thought Elfie.
Toys of every kind lay scattered all over the room, and hung.
from hooks in the walls and ceiling. Some of them Elfie had
never seen before, but many looked like those Santa Claus had
brought on Christmas Day for her and her little friends. Then
there were dolls of all sorts, conditions, and sizes, amusing them-
selves in all sorts of ways, while a great number simply hung
from the hooks or sat on the shelves, which ran all round the
room, and looked gravely on at the others playing.
Some little boy dolls were having a lot of fun spinning a great
top, which was larger than any
one of them; more of them were
"I'I -" V riding round the room on toy bi-
L' or cycles, or playing football with
rubber balls, while a group in the
--'-' corner were trying to break in a
'' very fierce and restive rocking-
horse, which seemed to take great
-- delight in kicking the tiny jock-
eys off as soon as they had mounted him.
Against one side of the room there was a great pile of dolls,
some in boxes, and others simply wrapped in tissue paper, and
most of them only half dressed. There were so many of them
that Elfie could only just see the top of the heap as it stretched
up towards the ceiling.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 35

Then on the floor, on the chairs, on the tables, were other dolls,
big dolls and little dolls, white dolls, black dolls, red dolls, gentle-
men dolls, and lady dolls, though by far the greater number were
ladies; walking about and talking with sweet little clockwork
voices, and playing all sorts of cute little games. Some of the
ladies were dressed most gorgeously in satin, silk, tulle, or lace,
and as Elfie stood looking at them with delight, a band of toy
musicians struck up the Blue Danube waltz, and straightway
a space was cleared on the floor, the dolls took partners, and away
they started with a dance. Round and round the room they flew,
and no doubt they would have kept on dancing forever if the
music had not stopped with a loud click!-and the conductor of
the orchestra came forward and said,-

" Ladies and gen-tle-men, the band wants winding up."
Then the dolls who had been dancing walked round the room
three or four times, arm in arm; and the gentlemen dolls said
to the lady dolls, May I fetch you
something? ice cream or lemonade?"
And some of the ladies said, No,
thank you, I am not the least
tired or thirsty." And others said, _i.
" Well, if you will be so kind, I ,_ l
will take just the tiniest morsel of '/
ice cream-or the smallest drop
of lemonade." And then the gen-
tlemen dolls would go into the
corner and come back with other
little waiter dolls who carried tiny trays with glasses with real
lemonade in them, and dishes with a wee speck of ice cream
which the lady' dolls tasted, and seemed to enjoy very much,

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

and altogether they appeared to be having a very good time
indeed.
While Elfie was laughing and enjoying the sight, with the aid
of E-ma-ji-na-shun, who explained everything she did not quite
understand, one of the lady dolls who was very richly dressed in a
purple silk polonaise with a canary satin skirt,
and real lace at her throat and on the sleeves,
came up to her and said, -
How do you do? I am pretty well, thank
." you. How did you leave your mamma and
papa? It is very nice weather. I think it will
rain to-day click "
Elfie had a hard job not to laugh at the
strange, squeaky little voice, especially as all
the time the dollie was speaking she could hear
the whir-r-r of the clockwork which served her
for lungs. When the young lady had reached rain to-day she
stopped short, opened her mouth two or three times without
speaking, and then pointed to a hole in her side.
She wants winding up," said E-ma-ji-na-shun.
So Elfie took one of the keys that were lying on a table,
and wound her ladyship up. Directly it was done, she began
again.
"You seem to be surprised that we are having such a good
time here. But you see, this is our home, and the home of all
the dollies that are made, until a batch of us are sent for to keep
up the supply on earth. At Christmas time the house is cleared
out entirely, and Santa Claus takes the whole lot with him to sup-
ply the little earth children. Then during the year, as the chil-
dren's birthdays come round, more of us are sent for, and it keeps
the workmen busy making us fast enough. Some of the dresses
that you see have taken quite a long time to make. The dress

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 37

that I wear took one of the best of the dolls' dressmakers two
whole days to make click! "
Elfie looked again at the dollie's frock, and saw that it was
very much finer than any of her own, and the fine lady doll was
gazing quite scornfully at Elfie's gown. But Elfie's mamma had
taught her not to think so much about her dress as her behav-
iour; so she said to the doll gently,-
I suppose you haven't any kind mamma to teach you to be
good and unselfish; mine has told me that so long as my clothes
are clean and whole, I should never be ashamed of them."
The doll looked surprised and tried to speak, but only made a
whizzing noise with a click -! click -! and pointed to its side.
Elfie wound her up again, and she said, -
." Why, I never heard of such a thing. All we have to think
about up here is the kind of dress we are going to wear, and the
number of times we shall be asked to dance."
Poor thing!" said Elfie, for she thought of all the loving
talks she had had with her kind mamma, and the funny stories
her papa had told her.
I hope you can be sent to me on my birthday, or next Christ-
mas, so that you can hear all the good things I do."
"So do I," said dollie, for I shall have to belong to some-
body, and I would rather be given to you than to some little girl
who would not be so kind to me."
I would give you the loveliest name!" cried Elfie.
What would you call me ?" piped dollie.
Maggie May! replied our little traveller. I have a great
mind to call you that now, as long as I am here; shall I? "
"Oh, yes!" squeaked the doll,; "and then I shall not find it
so strange to be called by a name when I go to the earth. Oh,
dear! when I think of going, I feel quite wretched! We lead
such lovely lives here, and play all day long the most delightful

38 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

games that dear old Santa Claus invents for us. We are always
sorry when the time comes for us to leave, for we never know
what our future will be. Some of the dolls have come back to
tell us of their adventures; one dollie, click !-" Elfie wound
her up again, and Maggie May continued: "whose mistress,
named Isabella, came back here yesterday, and I will ask her to
tell you the sad things that happened to her."
Maggie May walked across the room with her funny jerky walk,
and stopped in front of a little invalid chair which
stood in one corner. In it lay a poor, pale-
S faced dollie, propped up on pillows. She
L /.j looked frightened, and shook her head when
,. ,. Maggie May spoke to her; but in a few
/ moments Maggie nodded to two little sailor
/'"( dolls who had been very busy in the recess
,, 1 behind the invalid playing with a toy ship, a
very fine specimen with three masts, and
r fitted with ten brass cannons. These
merry tars hitched up their pantaloons,
touched their caps to Maggie May, and giving a yo-heave-ho!
raised the invalid chair with poor Isabella on to their brawny
shoulders; then with the greatest of care, they brought the chair
and its suffering burden over to where Elfie was standing, and sat
it down before her. Isabella looked a little
bit afraid when she saw Elfie, but the
little girl looked at her so kindly
and with so much pity, that the -.
afflicted doll took courage and held i
out one thin little arm.
Elfie took her up, and saw that
she was a cripple; she had only one arm, and but one leg; her
head was quite bald, and one of her poor eyes was out.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 39
Elfie did not like to ask her,how she came to be so miserable,
for she looked so much like one of her own little dolls that she
had thrown into the woodshed out of the way, that she felt
ashamed. The little doll didn't wait to be asked questions, but
after being wound began to tell Elfie of her adventures.

9

TRICK THE FIFTH.

Isabella tells Elfe her Sad S/toy.--_How the Rocking-horse threww the Jockeys over his
Head. The Rocking-horse's Song.

5 SABELLA gasped and wheezed a great deal at
first, and she had to be refreshed by winding up
quite often. I will leave out all the gaps in her
story, which ran like this,-
"Last year I was as beautiful a doll as any
that you see here. I could dance lighter, and
could walk with fewer jerks than any of them, and
all the gentlemen dolls used to be jealous of my
attentions; but on Christmas Day Santa Claus
took me away and left me at a beautiful house
down on the earth. It was night when we arrived, and I was
very much frightened when he went down the chimney with me
in his arms, and a lot of other toys on his back, and hanging to
his belt. The little girl who was to be my mamma was fast
asleep, and when I saw her pretty face I felt very glad I was
going to have such a sweet mistress.
I was placed with the other toys on a large Christmas Tree
in the parlour, and when I bade. Santa Claus good-bye, my head
was full of the fun the little girl and I would have the next day;
but I soon got tired of staying up on the tree and should have
fallen asleep if I had not had on my nice silk frock with the lace
40

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 41

apron. I did not want to muss my lovely dress, for we dolls
think more of our clothes than anything else, so I had to stay
awake.
There were a number of square frames on the walls, some of
them with very large dolls' heads hanging in them. One looked
very like the little girl I had seen asleep up stairs, while another
was a very sweet-faced grown-up doll, but who was quite dead,
for she did not understand any of the doll language that I spoke
to her.
I was very glad when morning came, and a servant maid
came and threw open the window shutters, letting in a flood of
morning sunshine. Pretty soon in trooped three lovely children,
who shouted and screamed with delight when they saw the tree.
The little girl who was to be my mamma soon had me down
from my perch and hugged and kissed me as though she would
eat me. I thought I should love her very much, as she seemed
to care so much for me.
Soon after, a lady came in, and then I saw that what I had
taken for a doll's head hanging in the frame, was really a portrait
of this lady. She looked very sweet and lovely, and was my
owner's mamma.
My little mistress thought I was the nicest present she had
ever had. For a long time she was very careful of me, and we
had some lovely games together. She used to tell me all her
secrets, and I should have told her mine, but she could not under-
stand the doll language as you do while you are in Cloudland.
But at last she began to tire of me; she cared for me less
and less, and one terrible day a day I shall never forget she
pulled off my arm and one of my legs, and threw me into a dark
closet. My hair caught on a nail, and was torn off my head in
the fall. I cried bitterly. The pain of my broken limbs was not
so bad as the feeling that my mistress, who had loved me so

42 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

much, should have treated me so badly. There was a walking
cane, which belonged to my mamma's papa, in the closet, and he
told me in a very gruff voice to be quiet. He said he
had had to walk all over the town during the day,
and could not have his rest disturbed by the
S \ crying of a doll-baby. I did not stop soon
Enough to satisfy him, and he knocked one
a of my eyes out. After lying there for what
seemed to me to be an age, I heard the well-
remembered step of Santa Claus outside in
the room. I shouted loudly, and he came to
the closet and carried me away.
I have been slowly getting better since
I have been back here, and I suppose I
shall be repaired and sent back, but you
may fancy how I dread it. I cannot tell you of all the horrible
things I suffered. During the last days of my stay I was terribly
neglected. I was once left out on the wet grass all night, and I
have suffered from rheumatism ever since, while I have been
slapped and beaten over and over again when I have committed
no fault. I wish I could stay here forever," sobbed poor Isabella
as she concluded her story and sank back in her chair.
Elfie felt very sorry for the poor dollie, for her heart told her
that that was the same way she had treated more than one of her
own dollies, and she thought Santa Claus must be very forgiving
to overlook her faults and bring her a new doll every Christmas.
But there were so many things in this wonderful toy castle to
take her attention that she was soon thinking of something else.
She kissed poor Isabella, whose clockwork heart gave a grateful
" click at the embrace, and nodding to Maggie May she moved
off to further explore the wonders that were all around her.
Elfie had not taken a dozen steps before she heard a tremen-

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 43

dous clatter in the corner where she had seen the little jockey
dolls trying to master the rocking-horse. She went over to see
what was the matter, and she found that the animal had reared
up right on to its nose, and thrown every one of its
would-be riders over its head. Four or five of thlii
had fallen right into a tub of water where the littlee -
sailor dolls were busy
in launching a model 'I
of the Volunteer rac ,-'. --
ing yacht.
Luckily for them,
E-ma-ji-na-shun was ..
near. The old man
had lived so long that the life-line on
his left hand was very long and strong, so he threw it to the
drowning dolls. They all managed to grasp it, and were dragged
ashore by the brave sailor laddies.
The horse stayed just as he had thrown himself, with his
nose on the ground and his hind legs and tail in the air. Elfie
tilted him back again on to his rockers, and he gave two
or three defiant prances before he rocked himself to a stand-
still.
"Why, what's the matter with you, horsey?" said Elfie.
Nothing!" snorted the gallant steed. Nothing What
does a girl know about a rocking-horse, anyhow? Ugh!"
Nothing, of course; but why did you throw these poor little
fellows into the water?" replied Elfie, gently; and she took up
one of the little jockeys to wipe him dry. He was made of wood,
and his eyes had a very don't-care look.
Never you mind about' those poor little fellows,' grunted the
rocking-horse; they are quite able to take care of themselves with-
out any of your interference"

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

Elfie thought the rocking-horse was very impertinent, but
when she looked at the horse-breakers she
quite believed him. They were certainly
the hardest looking dolls she had
Sever seen. Two or three were
Scared out of wood, like the hero
she had wiped dry, some were
rubber, while two at least of them
.I.. were made of iron or some other metal,.
and looked able to put up with any tumble the horse might give
them.
She looked at the little chap she held in her hand, and he said,
without changing his stony glare, in a gruff, hoarse whisper, -
",Ve're all right, miss; don't you bother about the likes of
us! We've got to break him in before he is allowed to leave
here, and we're going to do it, miss, you bet."
Elfie was a little bit shocked to hear the little fellow talk slang,
but supposed that it was the way the jockey
doll had been taught. She put him on the
ground and he-at once climbed on to the back
of the rocking-horse, who immediately reared
and threw him off.
This last feat seemed to please the fiery
steed very much. He pranced and
rocked so fiercely that not one of the
jockeys dared to go near him. At
last, after one or two very daring
leaps, he gave two or three loud snorts and a horse laugh, and
began to sing.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

THE SONG OF THE ROCKING-HORSE.

Though I'm only a horse set on rockers,
And am made altogether of wood,
I am wicked clear through to my saddle,
And I glory in being no good!
Fol-de-rol-lol-de-ray.

I suppose that the reason for this is,
I was cut out "cross-grained" as a colt;
Which makes me so vicious and fractious,
Makes me shy, kick, rear, plunge, and bolt.
Fol-de-rol-lol-de-ray.

Go! Bring here the man from the circus,
Who thinks that he knows how to ride;
Who is called on the bills the horse-breaker,
Oh, fetch him!--I'll lower his pride.
Fol-de-rol-lol-de-ray.

Or bring me the cowboy so joyous,
Who is known far and neal on the plains,
As the man called the best "bronco-buster"
I will give him a fall for his pains.
Fol-de-rol-lol-de-ray.

I was made by a left-handed goblin,
Broken-nosed, with a cast in his eye;
It's impossible ever to tame me,
Give it up now, you jockeys, don't try!
Fol-de-rol-lol-de-ray.

Elfie laughed heartily at the conceit of the rocking-horse, and
gave him an imitation apple which she found among a lot of other
china fruit on the shelf. Then, nodding good-bye to the little
horse breakers, she passed on to the further end of the room.

S IF LFIE walked slowly along, seeing something new
-::W at every step. As she reached the end of the room
she saw what she at first took to be a hideous
ogre, standing up against the wall, and straining
at her with great goggle eyes. Its head was
a terrible sight. It seemed to Elfie to be as
large as the big table in her papa's library.
It was nearly quite round, and had a lot of,
hideous red hair on the top and under the i
chin. Its nose was painted a fiery red, and
its mouth, which was stretched wide open,
was a red flannel bag.
Its body was rather small for the head,
but still as large as a good-sized man, and
was dressed in clothes which reminded Elfie 0
of the clown's dress she had seen at the
circus.
"Whatever is it?" she said to Maggie
May, who had followed her with her little
jerky steps.
Oh, that's just a game," she said, "and it is nothing but
46

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 47

pasteboard. The way to play, she said, is to take one of these
balls which are in the basket on the floor, and try to throw it into
the monster's mouth. Whenever the ball goes in, a little bell
rings on the creature's head, and the lucky player receives a bag
of peanuts as a prize.
Oh, yes!" said Elfie, and as she did not care for that sort
of game, was going to walk on, when E-ma-ji-na-shun whispered
to her, -
That is all very true, what Maggie May says, but this mon-
ster was really an ogre once; he is the very same one that used to
own the seven league boots, and was condemned for his bad con-
duct to stand with his mouth wide open forever for people to
throw balls into."
Elfie looked at the creature with a new curiosity, and as she
looked, the monster spoke. He could not close his mouth, so that
the words were very indistinct, but Elfie made him out to say,--

GRIMGUFFIN'S LAMENT.
I used to be an ogre, fond of eating little children,
My name it was Grimguffin, see the story in the books;
I have been condemned forever to stand here with mouth wide open,
You'll own it don't look easy, and it's harder than it looks.

What makes my sad fate harder is, I'm always very hungry,
I would give the whole wide world to eat a nicely toasted boy;
But you see, with mouth wide open, such a thing is quite impossible,
And base balls are the only food that give me any joy.

Then as if to tantalise me, when folks try to throw a ball in
My open mouth, the throwers are all nearly sure to miss;
Then I suffer dreadful anguish, for I see the balls all wasted.
Oh! I'm sure that I did not deserve such awful fate as this.

So, if you please, kind maiden, take a ball or two and throw them
Into my open mouth, I will thank you, I am sure;
Just two will keep me going, though of course I'll still be hungry,
For I could eat the basketful, and yet be wanting more.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

"Poor old Grimguffin," said Elfie, I am sure you are being
punished badly enough for your sins. Here are two new balls
for you;" and she threw two of the balls very,neatly into the
ogre's open mouth. He was evidently very pleased, and he rang
the little bell on the top of his head quite merrily as Elfie walked
away with old E-ma-ji-na-shun.
They had by this time seen nearly all the lower floor of the
castle, and Elfie asked her guide to show her the upper part.

N 2,_ r .'

"Very well, my dear," said the obliging goblin; come this
way, please."
Hey presto! Abraca-da-bra! Houp-la! Here we are."
Elfie felt herself whisked through the air, and before she
could speak found herself standing in another part of the build-
ing.
"That's my patent elevator, my dear," said E-ma-ji-na-shun.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 49

" Here we are on the second floor. This part of the house, my
child, is used for the manufacture of most of the toys that you
have seen down stairs."
It really was a wonderful sight. Hundreds of little goblins,
who looked something like their King E-ma-ji-na-shun, were hard
at work, sawing, whittling, cutting, hammering, modelling, sewing,
and gluing the differing materials used in making the beautiful
toys Elfie and the other earth children enjoy so much.
The room was long and low, and there were no windows to be
seen. Light was provided by millions of glow-worms, who ran
about with their tiny lamps, and threw a light just where the
workmen needed it.
There were hundreds of little tailor goblins seated cross-
legged on a bench, sewing away on the clothes intended for the boy
dolls, which were being made by another set of workmen. Then
there were thousands of lit-
tle goblin dressmakers, all
busy making dresses for
the lady dolls. There were
tiny blacksmiths and car-
penters all as hard at work
as possible; for E-ma-ji-na- u --
shun told Elfie that the
toy-makers could hardly
make toys fast enough to take the place of those the little earth
children were always breaking.
The room was so long that Elfie could not see the end of it,
and she could not understand how such a long room could be in
the dolls' castle, as she had seen it from the outside; but her guide
only chuckled and said,-
Another one of my tricks, my dear. Don't make your head
ache by trying to explain the tricks of E-ma-ji-na-shun. Now I

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

will show you my head workman and champion toy-maker of
Cloudland. There he is; now watch him at work."
The workman that Elfie was looking at was a light red gob-
lin, picked out with green; that is, his
face, arms, and legs were red, his body
was red with green stripes, while his hair,
eyebrows, eyes, teeth, finger and toe nails
were green. His nose was a deeper red
than the rest of his face,
making a very pleasant con-
trast.
He held in one hand a
long, round stick and in
the other a little hatchet;
and as he stood at his bench, he kept repeating the verse,-

Every time he said twenty-one, he would hit the stick with his
hatchet, and immediately some sort of a toy was made, complete.
Sometimes a top, or a doll, or a music-box, or a tin soldier, or a
boat, just whatever he thought the workmen were most in need
of at that moment.
Elfie thought it was wonderful; and she watched old Handi-
man, which was the goblin's name, for some minutes, during
which time he made forty toys, all of them different, and his stick
seemed to get no shorter.
"Another trick, I suppose," said she; and E-ma-ji-na-shun
laughed heartily.
When they left him, they walked down to the other end of the
room. There they saw the goblin bakers making the ginger-

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 51

bread horses and men that are sold at Christmas. Twenty very
fat little goblins were busy biting the holes in the doughnuts.
E-ma-ji-na-shun told Elfie that this work was so trying to the
nerves of the workmen _
that a fresh lot of gob-
lins had to be engaged .....-
each week.
Close by was the toy ^.
animal factory. Here they '
were making rocking-horses, toy .
sheep, rabbits, oxen, etc., one '-
lot of workers being kept all the 'IM F[ _.'l I
time chopping off animals for *
Noah's Arks.
Then there was a room for
baby buggies and express-wagons, and so many things to look at
that Elfie's head was nearly turned with excitement.
The sight of all the toys made her think of Santa Claus; and
E-ma-ji-na-shun, who had been running about the room, giving
directions to first one and then the other, heard her thought, and
came running towards her.
Come along then, and we will go and see him."
"Isn't that splendid!" said Elfie. "Oh, make haste! please."
Shut your eyes, turn round three times, and say,

Linkey, linkey, liney laws,
Show me the house of Santa Claus."

Elfie did as she was told. She shut her eyes, turned round
three times, and said' the verse.
In a second she felt herself lifted off her feet and flying
through the air; but before she could gasp for breath, her feet
touched the ground, and she opened her eyes.

TRICK THE SEVENTH.

E/ffe visis Santa Claus.

HEN Elfie opened her eyes she saw she was
standing, with E-ma-ji-na-shun by her side, before
the door of a magnificent palace.
-=--- It seemed to be made of ice, and decorated
with gold and silver, for it shone so in the rays of the sun that it

n *- -, s ie, w i stretce- 'r -s .- t. th- t

,. ..
-. : '- I .. .

TT ftf-" ... ".

.. .. yl ? 'I :

really hurt her eyes to look at it. There were towers at each
corner, with high spires, which stretched so far into the sky that
52
52l~~~m;~ ~ Lih

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 53

they seemed like threads of silver. The windows all shone with
many beautiful colours, as though they were set with rubies,
emeralds, and opals; and the doorway was a perfect network of
many-coloured pillars with hundreds of lovely icicles hanging from
the archway.
There were walks and terraces all round the palace formed
out of snow, and snow-trees cut into the most fantastic shapes.
Snow-men were set along the terraces to serve for statues.

Elfie gave one good look around before she hurried through
the archway. There she found herself in an enormous hall, the
ceiling of which seemed to reach nearly to the sky. It was hung
with icicles and decorated with glass balls of many colours, and
was lit up with millions of tiny wax candles, the same as Elfie
had seen on the Christmas Tree at home.
In the centre of the hall, and seated on a most comfortable
looking arm-chair, made of snow, was old Santa Claus; and Elfie

54 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

sat down on a snow footstool to examine the kind old man, who
is so beloved by the children of the earth.
Elfie noticed that he was very much like his pictures. His
face was round and rosy, and fairly shone with good-humour; and
his snow-white hair and beard helped to carry out the kind look
of his dear old face. He was clothed in a long red robe, lined
and edged with white fur; great heavy boots, also lined with fur,
were on his feet and legs; his cap was crimson like his cloak, and
his hands were covered by sealskin gloves.
He was surrounded by a number of little goblins, who were
all busy doing something to amuse or please the old man.
Some were bringing him food and drink, while others were
playing leap-frog over one another's backs so that he could see
and enjoy the game. The old gentleman was watching them
closely, and every now and then he would lie back and roar with
laughter at their funny antics.
After a little while he looked over to where Elfie was sitting,
and saw her.
She was not a bit cold, in spite of her snow seat, for E-ma-ji-
na-shun was close beside her. As soon as Santa Claus saw the
little girl, he called to two of the goblins, and told them to bring
her to him.
They turned three or four somersaults on their way; and
when they reached her, they each seized a hand, and brought her
to the King of the Castle.
Santa Claus looked at her very kindly for a moment; and then
bending down in the gentlest way you ever saw, he took her upon
his knee, and gave a great sounding kiss.
The sound of that kiss echoed through the hall like the crack
of a whip. Back and forth the echo went until it was lost far
away up in the ceiling, and making a lot of icicles come clattering
down like a shower of needles.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

Well, Elfie, my child," said Santa Claus, how did you get
here? The last time I saw you, you were fast asleep in your
little crib. I thought you had caught me surely once, for you
woke up, and reached over to see if your stocking was filled; but
I managed to make myself invisible till you were asleep again.
Then I left you all those pretty toys that surprised you so on
Christmas Day."
"Oh!" cried Elfie, "that is what has puzzled me so much.
However do you get down the chimney? I am sure our chimney
is so very little that a great big man like you could never get
down."
Santa Claus threw back his head, and laughed so loud that
another shower of icicles came rattling down. There was such a
perfect torrent of them that Elfie was half afraid she would be
buried under them, but the little attendant sprites kept clearing
them away as fast as they fell.
Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! my dear, you will have to ask your
friend E-ma-ji-na-shun about that. He's the fellow that helps me
out. Whenever I find a chimney is too small, and I generally
do nowadays, I call upon him, and he helps me with one of his
tricks. I don't know how he does it, but he does; and the main
thing, my dear, is, that big chimney or little chimney, old Santa
Claus gets there just the same."
"But how do you manage to go so far all in one night?"
said Elfie.
Ask your friend again, my dear. That's another one of his
tricks. In fact, I am one of his tricks myself, for he made me
nearly a thousand years ago out of a great log of wood from the
Black Forest in Germany. Of course my reindeer help me out
a great deal; and then you know that the earth takes twenty-four
hours to get quite through the night all over the world, so with
the help of my reindeer and E-ma-ji-na-shun, and by following

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

the way of the world, I manage to make all my visits before
morning. But I have to make haste, I can assure you; and I
am generally so tired that I have to sleep nearly six months of
the year.
"Then my. little goblins here look after the toy factory for
me, and see to the sending down to the toy stores on the earth
enough toys to provide for all the birthdays."
While he was speaking Elfie saw a very funny-looking old
woman walking towards them. She was
/ dressed in a black cloak with a red lin-
ing, a strange-looking steeple-crowned
1 hat, a red quilted petticoat, short enough
to display a pair of very elegant black
i silk stockings with a red clock, with low
shoes buckled with silver buckles and
having very high red heels. Her hair
was white, and neatly arranged in a knot
and covered with a net: a pair of large
gold-rimmed spectacles ornamented her
hooked nose. She appeared to have
S hardly any teeth, though a sweet smile
Swas on her face. In one of her hands,
which were covered with black lace mit-
S',.; J tens, she carried a long cross-handled
stick, and under her arm was a great
bundle of papers.
*; Elfie thought the old lady looked
very familiar to her; she felt sure she had seen her or her pic-
ture before, and she was just about to ask Santa Claus who she
was, when the old gentleman burst out with,-
Oh, dear me! Here comes old Mother Goose, with a whole
lot of new verses and stories for me to select those that I think

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 57

will suit my boys and girls for next Christmas. It's no use,
Mother Goose! said the jolly old man, raising his voice, I pos-
itively will not look over any verses to-day; I am too tired--
besides, I am engaged -call again when I am not so busy."
Elfie thought this was rather good, seeing that Santa Claus
seemed to have nothing to do but watch his goblins play leap-
frog and to talk to her.
Old Mother Goose but I think that Mother Goose deserves
a new chapter, so we will turn over and give her one.

TRICK THE EIGHTH.

Mother Goose and her troubles. The
celebrated Broomstick.

LD MOTHER GOOSE very evidently did
not hear what Santa had said, for she came
hobbling along, humming to herself in a
cracked voice,--
"There was an old woman who lived in her shoe-"

"None of that!" shouted Santa Claus, and the clatter of
the icicles which fell in a perfect shower on and around Mother
Goose made her look up.
"None of that!" repeated Santa Claus. "I am so tired of
that old woman and her everlasting shoe, that I am thinking of
having her scratched out of my new books. If you haven't any
new rhymes that are better than that, you had better turn round
and go home again."
Ho! ho!" cried Mother Goose. "You ungrateful loon,
you Why, that old poem -yes, I insist upon it --oem "- she
repeated, striking her stick on the ground that old poem has
pleased more children than you could count in a month of Sundays.
None of the modern poets seem to know how to write to please
the babies. Here is the last lot I've received. Read 'em! Read
'em! and then tear 'em all up. I declare that unless I get some
58

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 59

really good ones before next Christmas I'll just send out the same
old batch. The children never seem to get tired of tiem. Here's
a lot of nonsense," said the old lady, selecting a sheet from the
bundle. Listen to this:-

MRS. ARITHMETIC'S PARTY.

Mrs. Arithmetic gave a fine ball,
To little and great, to big and to small.
No one was neglected; she tried very hard
Not to leave out one person who should get a card.
There was sweet Miss Addition the first one to come,
And she footed it gaily with young Mr. Sum,
Who, 'twas easy to see, was her favourite beau;
Though Subtraction proposed she had answered him- No!
This refusal of course made Subtraction quite solemn,
And he left very early, hid away in a column.
Then Multiplication, that jolly old elf,
Who was always on very good terms with himself -
Tho' any who knew the same Multiplication
Declared that he caused them all endless vexation.
Division came later, and, needless to say,
Behaved himself meanly, as always his way.
He made friends into foes, and spoiled all the fun
Of the poor little figures from 9 down to I.
The cute little fractions were there (very small)
With their brothers, the decimals, not quite so tall;
And every one present had brought his relations,-
None prouder than Lord Algebraic Equations.
The Duke Logarithm and Comnt Trigonometry
Had quite a long chat with the Marquis Geometry.
Only five of the figures danced in the quadrille;
6, 7, and 8 went away feeling ill,
While old Mr. 9, who had ate so much supper,
Sat down in the library and read Martin Tupper.
At last it was time for the people to go;
Each fair young figure selected her beau,
And in leaving their hostess, they said one and all
They had greatly enjoyed Dame Arithmetic's ball.

Fancy giving that for the mammas to read to their babies.
They always will put too many ideas into the poetry; they will

60 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

be expecting the babies to tzink next! Here's another one. Did
you ever hear the like?

Why is the little boy crying?
Why does the little boy cry?
He has eaten so much of the roast beef,
He has no room left for the pie."

Ha! ha! ha! laughed jolly old Santa Claus. Old Mother
Goose is suffering from what men and women on earth call Pro-
fes-sion-al Jea-lous-y. We shall have to give you some medicine
in the shape of ad-verse crit-i-cism. That will cure you! ha!
ha! ha!"
Oh, you will, will you ? You'll give me some of that medi-
cine, will you ? You had better not. Why, there is not a man or
a woman on earth who has ever been a child who would not rise
up and declare such conduct shameful. No, sir; you had better

W *r"1 "V,- -.- t r .. ..

not so take my advice. As for the poets, I have given them up,
long ago, as hopeless. So many of them have taken to living alto-
gether up here in the clouds,' and they bother me all the time for
orders to write new rhymes for the children; but I have forbidden
them from stirring outside the gardens of their own house.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 61

"Then the house where they live when they are in the clouds,
--I am sure it is just like a Lunatic Asylum; for they strut
about, spouting and making up new poems on everything that
takes place on earth, so that it is really quite laughable to see
them.
Some of them are nice, lovable people, and I take care they
are not bothered by the noisy ones; but some are quite danger-
ous, and one class, especially, I have had to shut up
by themselves. They call them on the earth the
spring poets; they are dreadful indeed. But there,
Santa Claus! I can't stay here chattering to
Syou; just look through that lot of nonsense,
when you have time, and if you find any-
thing worth saving, save it.
SC"Mercy on us!
"tl Who's that?" said
the old lady sud-
denly, as she caught
O sight of Elfie.
S" Dearie, dearie
me she said, set-
ting her spectacles
i r straight; I declare,
child, you gave me
quite a turn. I ac-
tually thought it
was Contrary Mary
who had run away again. Come here and let me look at you,"
and Mother Goose fell back into an armchair, which one of the
little goblins had brought for her, and beamed so sweetly on
Elfie that the little girl slipped down from Santa Claus' knee and
ran to the old lady's outstretched arms.

62 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

"And what is your name, my dear?" said the dame, after
embracing Elfie and seating her on a footstool, which had risen
through the floor at a nod from E-ma-ji-na-shun.
I'm Elfie," replied the little girl.
Elfie, eh? and a dear, sweet little girl you look," said old
Mother Goose. "And so you have started out with old E-ma-ji-
na-shun to explore the wonders of Cloudland, have you? Well
-well-there are not many little girls like that come up here.
Nearly everybody waits till they are older; but we love the chil-
dren best, after all," and she kissed Elfie again. Now what do
you want to see most that I can show you ? "
Oh!" said Elfie, I want to see where you live, and I want
to see the old woman that lives in the shoe, and Jack and Jill,
and Tom Tucker, and Jack Horner, and Jack Spratt, and Little
Bo-peep."
"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Mother Goose, "and so you shall,
my lamb; you shall see them all, and more too; and what is better,
I will give you a ride on my broomstick. What do you think of
that? "
Elfie did not know how to say thank you, enough; but she
tried, and said, "Thank you!"
Ul -- -" over and over again, until
V-.-. Mother Goose closed her mouth
---", ._T with a kiss.
S" "Come along, then, dearie!
E-ma-ji-na-shun will come with
us, for you could not go a step
up here without himz. Say good-
bye to Santa Claus, and we will start at once; for I must get
home and give Little Boy Blue his supper and see that Contrary
Mary hasn't run away again."
Elfie went up and kissed Santa Claus and started out with

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

Mother Goose. They passed through the wonderful entrance
across the terraces and down the snow steps.
There Elfie saw one of Santa Claus's sprites leading the cele-
brated broomstick up and down, for Mother Goose said he had
become rather heated on the way from her house, and she did not
care to leave him standing still in the snow.
Elfie examined the famous stick very curiously, for she had
often wondered how a broomstick could fly through the air as this
one did. She was rather surprised and a wee bit disappointed to
see that it was nothing but an ordinary
every-day broomstick, with a very old,
worn-out broom at one end. Mother
Goose took it from the goblin who had
been looking after it, and
taking it by the handle sat
down on it, exactly as a lady
would take a seat on a horse;
Elfie took a seat in front of -- -
her, while E-ma-ji-na-shun I
jumped on behind. 5 :.
No sooner was Mother
Goose seated, than the stick began to jump and dance about, and
after one or two leaps, as though to show its powers, away it
went sailing through the air; keeping well up above the tallest
trees.
Elfie thought it delightful, and told Mother Goose so, but
the old lady was too busy managing her steed to be able to
give much attention to her. They flew and flew till they came
in sight of what looked to Elfie like an enormous book stand-
ing on end. One of the covers was towards them, and the
broomstick, guided by Mother Goose, descended gently to the
ground in front of it.

64 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

"Here we are at home!" said Mother Goose, and she took
Elfie in her arms and jumped down from the broomstick;
which at once started of its own accord for the stable.

TRICK THE NINTH.

Mother Goose's Home, and all the Stories.--Little Red Riding Hood tells Elfe anl about tfi
Faigr SItor People. A Piece of the JMoon.

.. ,HY, what a funny house it is!" cried Elfie, tak-
i ng a good look at what Mother Goose called
her home. It looks like a great book."
Yes, my dear, that is just what it is intended to be," said the
old lady. "You see it is quite
different from other houses; for
though it is built in stories, the
stories are one behind the other,
just like a book, a story for every
leaf. Come along, now, and you
shall see it."
Mother Goose clapped her
hands, and instantly the cover of
this wonderful book flew open.
But we must not forget what a
splendid sight this cover was.
It was covered with all sorts of
the loveliest colours, with pic-
tures of all of Mother Goose's
children done in gold and silver. It was like the outside of the
finest Christmas Book you ever saw, only a thousand times more
beautiful.

66 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

Well, when the cover flew open, Elfie saw the first story, and
a wonderful sight it was. There lived the old woman that lived
in the celebrated shoe, and
scores upon scores of children
ran about the place laughing
S and shouting at the top of
their voices, and evidently driv-
ing the old woman nearly
Crazy. The old woman
5 herself looked older and
More wrinkled than any-
body that Elfie had ever
seen, and she seemed to be worrying herself all the time about
the behaviour of the children; for she would run about in every
direction, correcting this one, spanking another, or kissing another,
just as she thought they deserved.
The shoe had a door in the side, and was as big as an ordinary
house. A lot of windows were in front where the holes for the
laces would be in a real shoe, and the roof was made of what
looked like an old stocking stuffed into the top. On a big sign
in front was written the story:

"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
Who had so many children, she did not know what to do;
So she gave them some broth, without any bread,
And spanked them all round and sent them to bed."

Elfie wanted to stay and play with the children, but Mother
Goose told her that if she did, the old woman would spank
her and send her to bed just the same as the others. So after
a little while they passed on to the second story.
Here lived Jack and Jill, Contrary Mary, and Little Boy
Blue. They were having a game all together, and Mother
Goose gave Elfie permission to join in. Jack and Jill would

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

walk up a little hill at
at the top, where they
filled a pail with water.
Then they would start
back, carrying the pail
between them, when
they tripped up and
came tumbling down
with the pail of water

rolling after
Then Contrary

iT F j '- :

a long talk
told her all
and she met

the back of a long walk, to a well that was

n: 7`

them.
y Mary sprinkled them with her watering pot, and
Little Boy Blue blew a loud toot-toot-toot on his
horn; and everybody laughed till it was time for
Jack and Jill to start off again. On the walls
were big sheets of paper with the stories of Jack
and Jill, Contrary Mary, and Little Boy Blue.
After leaving this story they went through the
others. Elfie saw Jack Horner eating the cele-
brated pie, out of which he picked a plum for
her; she heard Little Tom Tucker sing for his
supper, and was introduced to Jack Spratt and
his wife. Then she had
with Little Bo-peep, who ..
about losing the sheep; '
Miss Muffet and the spi- .L,'

der.
It took them a long time to see all
the book, but they got through at last,
and old Mother Goose said,-
Now I will show you some other
friends of yours. They don't properly
belong to my family, but as I am in the

)i -=l 0 T ~t

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

story-telling business, they are placed in my charge to take care
of. Look this way!"
Elfie looked up and saw a very pretty cottage, and there, lean-
ing out of the window, was a lovely little girl with blue eyes and
golden hair, with a red
hood on her head. In
S- front of the door,
and almost
'd! blocking it up,
was a horrible
S, sight nothing
else but a hide-
Sous wolf, stone
dead, with its
head split open,
d w and its blood all
S- p around on the
grass.
sa is. -" Little Red
S- Riding Hood!" cried
E lfie. Do let me go
ult t, her and kiss her!" She
kn,-ck,-d at the door, and a sweet
little: \IvoL- inside called out,-
I'uill the string of the latch
and walk in."
Elfie pulled the string, and the door opened. She ran up
stairs, and after kissing Little Red Riding Hood, for she felt
they were quite old friends, she sat down with her on the edge
of the snow-white bed and began to ask her about her adventures
and how she came there.
"Well, dear," said Red Riding Hood, "you must know that

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

after my grandmother was eaten up, and the horrid wolf was
killed, there was no one to live in the cottage, so the people of
Cloudland said that as the earth children would always love to
hear my story, it would be best for me to live here forever, and
keep the wolf, just as he was killed, in front of the door; so that
any one who ever disbelieved the story could see us both and
know it was true."
How deeply interesting," said Elfie; but do you live here all
by yourself? Don't you ever see anybody? "
Oh, yes," replied Red Riding Hood. Cinderella lives in the
palace you see over there, and she often calls, and the Sleeping
Beauty is not far off. Then Jack the Giant-Killer calls every
Saturday evening," she added with a pretty blush; he wants me
to marry him, but I do not think they will let us marry," she
sighed.
Then the two Babes that were lost in the Wood are buried
under the leaves close by here, and the Robins often come and tell
me how the graves look.
Oh, yes," she went on, I have lots of company; all the peo-
ple in the fairy-story books are good friends of mine, and we
sometimes have a big picnic in the woods together.
Puss-in-Boots and Hop-o'-my-thumb make lots of fun for us;
and sometimes when Blue Beard or some of the other wicked
people won't behave, we get E-ma-ji-na-shun to give them indiges-
tion, so that they get quite sick and keep quiet."
"And how are Cinderella and her prince, and the Sleeping
Beauty and her prince, and all the rest of the good people ? asked
Elfie.
Oh, they are all well and happy," replied Red Riding Hood.
" You see we story-book people never get any older, and after we
are married, we are never sick, nor unhappy, nor anything. After
the story is finished, we just go on living happy forever."

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAAD.

Isn't that splendid said Elfie. But Mother Goose is wait-
ing for me. Good-bye, dear; I am so glad to have met you."
Good-bye, Elfie! Call again when you come to Cloudland.
Good-bye!" And Elfie ran down to Mother Goose, who had
waited for her in front of the house.
Now, Elfie, child, what is the next thing you want to see in
Cloudland ? said she.
Oh! you dear old Mother Goose, it seems to me that I have
seen everything and everybody I have ever wondered at, and I'll
never, never forget you, and I hope I shall come back again and
again. Yes," Elfie went on, "there is nothing now that I have
wondered at that I have not seen except except -"
"What? asked Mother Goose.
Except the moon," said Elfie.
"The moon, child!" cried the dame; "what ever do you want
to know about the moon ? "
I want to know what it is, and why it gets small and large
again, and who the man in the moon is, and oh, dear me, I don't
understand it at all," sighed the little girl.
Ha! ha! my dear," chuckled the soft, quaint little voice of
E-ma-ji-na-shun, who was seated on Elfie's shoulder. "Whenever
you don't understand anything you must come to me to help you
out. I can always explain everything fully. To be sure, when
you get down to earth again, it is likely you will wonder just as
much as ever about all the things I have explained to you; but
then, you will always have the satisfaction of knowing that what
I have told you zmigh/t be true, after all.
"And now, if you will be so good as to take a seat on this yel-
low stone, I will explain this moon business to you."
"Why, what a funny stone!" said Elfie, looking at the seat
he had pointed out to her, which was a round, yellowish-green-
looking stone.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 71

"Yes! said the old gentleman, you may well say that. Look
at it again. What does it look like?"
It looks like cheese," replied Elfie.
It is cheese," said E-ma-ji-na-shun; taste
it! smell it! it is cheese, and the very best
quality, too; for it is a piece of the identical moon itself!!!"

TRICK THE TENTH.

A few Facts about the afoon. It is made of Cheese. -
S Elfe and E-imaji-na-sk/ln start for the Moon on the
Broomstick. The Cloud-Shiu.

PIECE of the moon?" cried Elfie.
Yes, my dear, a piece of the moon
The moon is made of the very finest qual-
ity of green cheese, as you may have heard. Of
course I know lots of people say it isn't, but it
is all the same, and I will tell you about it.
You see the people who live in Cloudland and the Realm of
Fancy live almost entirely on cheese, and the moon is the cheese
they eat. We eat just so much every day, and every day the
moon is just that
much smaller until
there is nothing left
but the faintest rim,
which is the rind of
the cheese, and then -
that is eaten up too. -
Then for the two
weeks which passes
before there is another full moon, we have to live upon what we
have laid by during the two weeks of plenty, and as soon as the
72

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 73

new cheese is completed, we fall to and devour that, and so on
forever."
And who is the man in the moon, and where do the new
moons come from? asked Elfie.
"The man in the moon," said E-ma-ji-na-shun,
" is a very jolly old chap whom I created and
placed up there in charge of the stores.
He also makes the new moons out __
of the Milky Way, which your
papa will show you the next time
you ask him. As soon as the old
moon is eaten up, he starts off in -
a cloud-ship to the Milky Way and lays in a new supply of cream
and begins to make a new cheese.

*E ----''r B-^^

He first makes a thin half-circle for a foundation; this is
the new moon. Then he lays it on in thick layers every day

74 ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

until the moon is round and full, when he takes up his residence
upon it, and does nothing but look jolly till the cheese is all gone.
He sends down the day's supply by cloud-ships, and keeps
five of them busy all the time. Just break off a piece of your seat
and see how good it is."
Elfie nibbled a piece of the cheese and found it very nice
indeed, nicer than any cheese she had eaten on the earth.
Oh, how I should like to go there! she cried, and see the
dear, jolly old man What a lot of things he must have to talk
about, for he has looked down at the world so long that he must
have seen no end of strange sights."
"Well, my dear, if you want to see the man in the moon, come
along. Let us borrow Mother
Goose's broomstick, and off we
will go. It's a long way, and
you must hold on tightly.
Order out the broomstick,

But the broomstick did not
wait to be fetched; for before
E-ma-ji-na-shun had done talk-
ing hey, presto there it
was prancing and kicking up
its shabby old brush as though
it were the finest-looking horse in Cloudland.
Elfie waved her hand to Mother Goose, and mounted the stick,
holding on tight. E-ma-ji-na-shun sprang on behind, and shoo-
whizz they were off!
That was something like a ride. They mounted so quickly
that the clouds they passed through looked as if they were falling,
and the sky began to look so near that Elfie was afraid she would
bump her head. Suddenly E-ma-ji-na-shun laid hold of the string

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLA)ND.

which served for a rein to their steed, and brought the broom-
stick to a standstill.
"What's the matter? thought Elfie. "We certainly are not
at the moon yet."
"Look out!" cried E-ma-ji-na-shun. "Here comes one of the
cloud-ships laden with cheese."

- i-

Elfie saw what seemed to her nothing but a light, fleecy
cloud flying along before the wind, as she had often seen them
do on a windy day.
E-ma-ji-na-shun told her that every one of those tiny cloud-
lets she had seen was a ship carrying messages or freight to
and fro among the people of Cloudland.
As the cloud she was looking at came nearer and nearer
in its descent, she saw that it was the exact shape of a ship,
with masts, sails, and rigging complete. The deck was heaped
up with what seemed quite a mountain of cheese. Tiny gob-

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

lins, with round, full-moon faces, and dressed like sailors, were
running about, pulling on ropes and hoisting the snow-white sails
on the purple masts. One of them, who
seemed to be all head and legs, for his head
was very large and round, with long spidery
legs growing from beneath his chin,-was
standing on the top of the heap of cheese,
directing the sailors.
S"That man," said her guide, "is the cele-
-' brated Captain Nemo, that your brothers have
read about; perhaps you know him better
as Mr. Nobody. He is the captain of this ship, The Golden
Fleece."
As he spoke, the crew of the cloud-ship caught sight of Elfie
and the broomstick, and they rushed to the side of the vessel to
give a hoarse little cheer, which sounded to Elfie very much like
the sighing of the wind. As they passed quite close they sprang
into the rigging and waved their tiny caps, while Captain Nobody
shouted through his speaking-
trumpet, "A pleasant voyage to
you !" .- -- '- ,
Just then a gust of wind filled / J -
the sails of The Golden Fleece,
and away she went through the' .
air, pitching and tossing quite t
like a real ship on the ocean. __
The last Elfie saw of it, it
was disappearing into a sea of
mist, with all the wee sailors
hard at work hauling and pulling, taking in sail; with Captain
Nobody running about, giving orders and stamping his feet
because they were too slow about it.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 77

As soon as The Golden Fleece had vanished into the mist,
E-ma-ji-na-shun started the broomstick, and away they went again
on their voyage.
It seemed only a very short time before Elfie was aware that
they were coming quite close to
a very large something! which
grew bigger and bigger as they
came nearer.
"There's the moon !" shouted
E-ma-ji-na-shun. It is only a
little time past being full, so
that you will be able to see it
at its very best. Now be very
careful, my dear, as you step off."
As he spoke, the broomstick descended very gently on to the
surface of the moon.

TRICK THE ELEVENTH.

Elfe arrives at the Moon.

SVOW, step off carefully," said E-ma-ji-na-shun, "or
you will fall into one of the pits that the moon
goblins have made in digging out the last cargo
of cheese."
Elfie did as she was told, and was very
careful as she stepped down from her seat;
then she looked around her. Here she was actually at the moon
at last! What a wonderful sight! As far as the eye could see
in every direction there were stretched out miles upon miles of
cheese.
In some places it was quite flat, forming great level plains, but
it was broken up here and there by what looked like great moun-
tains and deep valleys. "These were made," said E-ma-ji-na-shun,
" by the goblins, who are called mites up here, digging out the
supplies for the people of Cloudland."
Hundreds of thousands of these little fellows were hard at
work digging away at the golden soil, piling it into heaps, and
loading into tiny railroad cars which ran from the mines to the
wharves at the edge of the moon, where it was thrown into heaps
all ready for loading into the next cloud-ship that put in for a
cargo. Elfie noticed that on the top of every heap and mountain
a big fire was blazing away brightly. E-ma-ji-na-shun told her
78

ELF E'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 79

that these were kept going all the time, so that the workmen, who
never slept, could see to work at night. The cloud-ships came for
their cargoes at all hours, and no delay was possible.
It is the light from these fires that makes the moon shine so
to the people of the earth," added the old gentleman, with a sly
twinkle in his eye. If you will look out of your window on the
next windy night we have, you may, perhaps, see some of the
cloud-ships at the wharves, loading up with cheese ready for their
voyage.

!

.. : .- ... .....

All this while they were walking along towards the centre of
the moon, and Elfie, who kept her eyes open, saw that there was
a very high mountain looking something like a fantastic-shaped
castle rising out of the middle of the plain.

ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.

There's the home of the man in the moon," said her guide.
"Of course, as that part of the moon gets eaten up, he has to
move over towards the edge; but he always makes himself a cas-
tle where he can rest comfortably after the hard work of making
the new moon."
As they came near, she saw in front of a large hole in the side
of the mountain, shaped like a door, an enormous man. Elfie
thought he must be at least fifty feet high. He was dressed in a
long brown coat which reached to his knees; on his legs were
long blue stockings with purple trunks; his shoes were very long
and pointed; his cap was blue and out to a point in front, while
a long amber-coloured feather, which floated up from it, showed
that he was a little bit vain of his personal appearance. His head
was very, very large, forming at least one-third of his whole
height. The face was round and full, and very jolly-looking; a
slight droop to the left eyelid gave his eyes such a quaint, sly
look that nobody who looked at him could possibly help laughing.
He was sitting down on a great heap of cheese, having his
dinner, and to show you what a very extraordinary man he was,
he was eating the front of his own house.
Hullo! he shouted, when he saw our little traveller; hulloo!
what brings you here? It isn't often that I have-the pleasure of
speaking to one of you earth-children. Come here, and let me
shake hands with you."
He stooped down and took Elfie's hand in his mighty fist and
shook it warmly.
"Sit down, sit down, little one! Here is a nice seat. Of
course you want to ask questions. I never knew anybody that
came from the earth who did not. Go right on, and I will tell
you all you want to know."
Elfie settled herself comfortably on her soft cheese seat, and
made up her mind to enjoy herself.